1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of instruction. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of teaching a horse to jump over a jump, wherein the jump is specially designed for such instruction.
2. Background.
In the area of equestrian shows and competitions, it is common to have horses jump over a variety of barricades, including, for example, walls, gates, bridges, fences, hedges, bushes, bodies of water, and the like. Therefore, to prepare the horse for these types of shows and competitions, it is widely beneficial to acclimate the horse to the type of barricades over which it will be expected to jump. To that end, the horse trainer needs to provide the horse with access to the barricades, and needs to have the horse practice jumping over the barricades so that, come show or competition time, the horse can competently and successfully perform the jump.
However, oftentimes it is difficult for the trainer to instruct the horse to jump over barricades as physical access to certain barricades may be financially costly, physically impractical to replicate, or dangerous to the horse and/or rider where the horse has not been previously exposed to the barricades and had practice jumping over the barricade.
It is standard practice in the field of horse jumping to instruct a horse to jump in general using equestrian jumps comprising posts and rails. Such jumps are relatively financially inexpensive, easy to access, safe for the practice of jumping, and lightweight, and hence, relatively easy to move about and transport. As the post and rail jumps have certain advantages in the training of equestrian jumping, and as the horse is expected to jump over, not just post and rail jumps, but also a variety of barricades when in show or competition, it would be advantageous to merge the concept of the barricade with the post and rail jump, and thereby train the horse to jump over a variety of types of barricades.